Dance of the Northern Lights
by GirlWaterShaman
Summary: The entire story behind the love between a girl and her two Pokemon. Rating for lemons. ON HIATUS
1. Discovery of an Aching Heart

Dance of the Northern Lights

By Marikunin/GirlWaterShaman

Dedication: This story-as a whole-is dedicated to memory of my mother Sabrina. I know that she is praying for me in Heaven. : )

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or YouTube or any of the copyrighted things in here. Nor do I own Vespera, Ryan, or anyone else's fanmade characters. All I own is Merii, Jayden, Luke and the idea for this story.

_The walls they close in  
The air it goes out  
We're left with nothing but a shadow of doubt  
Nobody talks, no one is here  
It's just you and me_

_-Everything to Me, Liz Phair_

Chapter One: Discovery of an Aching Heart

Merii Fuhennori woke up to the sound of rain splattering on her bedroom window. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned loudly and stretched before getting out of her bed. Then she glanced at her alarm clock-shaped like an Eevee-and nearly screamed.

"I overslept! Crap!"

The 14-year-old leapt from her bed. Practically tearing her nightgown off, Merii sprinted to her shower. Emerging five minutes later, she ran a brush madly through her hair while putting on her pants with the other. She attached her Pokeballs to her belt and pulled on a blue t-shirt, and ran downstairs. A few moments later, the front door was thrown open, with the girl racing down the road, a bagel in her mouth and holding an umbrella over her head.

A red light emerged from two of her Pokeballs and her Swampert and Lucario, Jayden and Luke respectively, appeared.

"What's wrong, Lady Merii?"  
Merii turned to Luke as they ran down the road.

"I'm supposed to pick up my bicycle from the shop today!"  
"So?"  
The girl turned to her Swampert this time.

"I was supposed to pick it up 3 hours ago! Why didn't you two wake me up?!"  
Luke blushed.

"You looked so peaceful when you were sleeping, Lady Merii…we didn't want to bother you."  
Merii let out a loud sigh.

"I appreciate it guys, but it's my own fault for staying up late watching DVDs of old CSI: La'Rousse City episodes. Next time, wake me up, okay?"  
A smile on both of their faces, Jayden and Luke nodded.

The three reached the bicycle shop near Merii's home within five minutes and the teen opened the door quickly.

"I'm…sorry…I'm late…I overslept…"  
The kind owner of the small shop, Mr. Patterson, looked up at the panting trainer and her two Pokemon and smiled. He always liked Merii Fuhennori, ever since she was a little girl.

"It's alright Miss Fuhennori. I still have your bicycle, all fixed up."  
He pointed to the bright silver and blue Mach bike sitting in the corner. Merii sighed in relief.

"Oh thank goodness. Thank you so much Mr. Patterson. I really appreciate it."  
The middle-aged man chuckled.

"You've been a loyal customer since you were seven years old, and plus I've known you since you were four years old. I'd never let you down."

Merii couldn't help but smile at his, as did Jayden and Luke. She talked with the store owner for a few more minutes, and then took her bike out of the shop, her Swampert and Lucario loyally following her.

Mr. Patterson looked at the retreating girl and her Pokemon with kindness in his eyes. But he knew. The way that the two Pokemon looked at the girl…if he was right, and in these types of matters he usually was, then Merii would have a lot of trouble coming to her soon. The man lowered his head and murmured a silent prayer for the trio.

* * *

"Hey Merii, we're over here!"

The girl in question turned around, to see her friends Mei, Shawna, Alyssa, and Lara waving at her. She grinned and walked over to them. The five were at the local shopping center, finally coming together on a girl's day out-one that had been planned over a month ago. All 5 girls led busy lives.

For that morning, they mostly window shopped, with a girl buying a trinket here or there. By lunch time, they were all hungry. But no matter how many times they went out with Merii, they never really got used to how much she was able to eat. Not even Mei and they had been friends since they were infants.

"Girl," Alyssa said between bites of her cheeseburger, "How can you eat so much but not gain anything?"  
Mouth full with her spring rolls, Merii just shrugged.  
Shawna looked around the food court-and then squealed, her green eyes going wide. Lara rubbed her ear where Shawna had just yelled into, and the four of them looked where Shawna was pointing.

"Look! It's Silver! I didn't know he was in town!"  
Indeed, it was. The famous red-headed Trainer was walking past the food court, having to stop every other second due to many young children asking for his autograph. Merii grinned.

"Well, I'm glad I'm not him. Seems like he never gets anytime for himself."  
Lara laughed.

"I wouldn't mind time with him."

Alyssa and Shawna burst out laughing. Merii chuckled, and looked at Mei. Then she frowned. Mei didn't look very pleased with what Lara just said. She had stopped playing with a few strands of her long auburn hair and was looking at Lara angrily. Her deep blue eyes were narrowed, and her fair-skinned face was scowling. But then she blinked, and Mei seemed to look just fine.

'Maybe I just imagined it…'

Silver disappeared into the crowd, a small mob following him. After that, the rest of the day went as normal. Merii ended up buying a few books, one for her and a few for her Pokemon. It was about dinner time when the 5 girls split up to go to their respective homes. Merii smiled, pleased with her purchases. She loved the mall.

* * *

That night, the sky was finally starting to clear up. There were spaces in between the clouds where Merii was able to see the stars above. She was lying on the small roof by her bedroom window, her book that she brought from the mall in her hands. Inside, Luke was reading. She had given him a book on Buddhism and he had grown fascinated and hadn't put it down since she had gotten home. Jayden, on the other hand, was laughing his head off at some video or another on YouTube. Frankly, it confused the girl on how her Swampert was even able to type with his fins. She turned a page of her book quietly, then put it down, too distracted to read.

'Why didn't I react like the other girls did when we saw Silver today at the mall? Sure, Mei seemed pissed at Alyssa, but I think she may actually like the guy,' at this Merii smiled. It would be really nice if Silver and Mei got together, but she doubted it. He was a world-famous Pokemon trainer after all. 'Yet…even though Silver is good looking…I didn't feel anything besides a little awe because he's famous and everything.'

Sighing, the teen crawled back into her bedroom and put her book away. She yawned a little and opened up her silver laptop, sticking her headphones over her ears. She needed to write in her blog for a little while.

* * *

The next morning, Merii awoke to the sounds of a trash can falling over. She got up from her bed and went to the window, frowning.  
'It's only six AM…,' she thought as she glanced at her alarm clock, 'why are the trash cans falling over? The trash guys don't come until 7…'

She opened her window and glared at the small group of Murkrow and one Honchkrow picking at her garbage.

"HEY! Some people are trying to sleep! Shoo!"  
At her yell, the birdlike Pokemon fluttered away, squawking loudly. Muttering darkly under her breath, Merii climbed back in her bed. After about ten minutes, she grumbled a bit more.

"Need some food…"

Walking past Jayden and Luke, who were both sleeping among the rest of her Pokemon, Merii headed down to the kitchen. She fixed up her Pokemon's breakfast first, most of it being berries and Pokemon food mixed together. Then she cooked herself a small bowl of oatmeal, adding copious amounts of sugar to it. After she went upstairs and showered- feeling much better about the day at this point- Merii looked over at her clock.  
"Wow. Eight AM already? I was getting ready for longer than I thought."  
The trainer woke up her Pokemon, all of who were eager to have their first meal of the day, and got her bag ready. In two days, she would be leaving on her next Pokemon journey. She couldn't wait. Sure, it was a nice 3 months at home, but it was time for her to explore more.

About an hour later, Merii walked out of her house with Jayden and Luke by her side. It was strange, but they never seemed to want to be inside of their Pokeballs. This usually would keep her thinking for hours but not today. She had several things left to do to get ready for her next journey. Her bike was taken care of, but Merii had to pick up more things from the PokeMart. Her Berry Pouch had come in the previous evening, as well as a new backpack and several other materials that she would need. Humming to herself, the three entered the PokeMart.

"Why Merii! Hello! Your Berry Pouch just came in last night!"  
The young proprietor of the PokeMart, Jennifer Black smiled kindly at the girl. She walked to the back room and came out a moment later, carrying a small package in her hands. The bright engagement ring from her fiancé Thomas Payne, who lived just down the road from the Mart, sparkled on her left ring finger. The couple was, in fact, long time friends with Merii, Jennifer living just next door from her. Merii at this time was searching through the long aisles, putting various items into her shopping cart. She bought her items.

"So," Jennifer said as she rung up the goods that Merii had placed in her cart, "Any boys in the picture?"  
Merii flushed, and Jayden and Luke looked shocked. Jennifer giggled at the looks on their faces.

"It's just a question. No need to fuss."  
Calming down quite a bit, Merii smiled and shook her head.

"No. I don't know why, but there just doesn't seem to be a guy that interests me."  
The young clerk smiled at her friend.

"Don't worry. He'll come," she smiled down at the ring on her finger, "After all, mine did."  
A warm smile spread across the girl's face and she nodded slowly.

"Mmhmm…"

After this, Merii, Jayden and Luke left, Merii still humming a little to herself. Jennifer stood there, watching the three leave. She frowned.

"Those Pokemon really should be in their Pokeballs. I wonder why she lets them wander about with her…"

* * *

"So…tired…"

Merii, Jayden and Luke were walking back home after a long day of running several errands, most of which were to get ready for their next journey. Jayden was the one who expressed this and Luke scoffed playfully at his friend.

"Well, if you hadn't stayed up so late watching those idiotic videos on the computer for half the night, you wouldn't be so tired."  
Ignoring the light-hearted bickering going on between her Swampert and her Lucario, Merii stared up at the sky, the rosy colors dancing across her dark brown eyes.

Why _wasn't _there a boy in the picture? At her age, most of her friends were already into boys, whether they were famous Trainers like Silver or the boy living right next door. It wasn't like she was gay or anything; Merii definitely did _not_ have that preference. But it seemed like she hadn't had a crush on a boy for a long time.

In fact, the last time she had a real crush on someone was when she was only 12 and in the 6th grade. She suspected that her friend-for they were already friends-had a crush on her too. But the incessant yet harmless teasing by their peers made the two too embarrassed to want to become anything more. Then shortly after, the boy moved to a different town and Merii never saw him again. But she knew that it was only a mere crush; the ease of her getting over him leaving proved it.

Of course, her mother died a few months after that, and boys were pretty much the furthest thing from Merii's mind. However, after she got Jayden and then found Luke on the side of the road one rainy evening, any possible crushes on neighborhood boys seemed to cease. The answer was right in front of her, and Merii knew it. Yet she couldn't figure it out.

It was frustrating. She knew why she hadn't had crushes on boys for so long, and yet the answer kept eluding her. Merii had ruled out most of the possibilities, from the mundane to the just plain strange, and came up with nothing. Not really caring if her emotions showed up on her face, Merii kept walking slightly behind her two Pokemon.

Eventually, Jayden and Luke stopped bickering and the three were enveloped in calm. The trio walked down the path back to Merii's house, lost in their thoughts. The sunset bathed them in a beautiful rosy light, the setting sun turning the sky a deep orange color. Jayden and Luke were walking ahead of Merii by a few strides, and she watched them silently.

For a long, emotional moment Merii stared at the backs of her Swampert and Lucario. A strange ache filled her chest-an ache that seemed to want something. Something she could hardly explain. The feeling grew from something small, like a single piano key being played repeatedly. The ache then started to grow, as if the strings and horns joined in on the piano playing. But as the setting sun reappeared behind the clouds and the warmth swept over them, her deep brown eyes went wide in realization, when the aching music in her chest reached a crescendo.

'I'm….in love with Jayden and Luke.'

End of Chapter One

End Note: Okay, I'm sorry if it seemed boring until the end. But these characters will be important later in the fic, whether in the next 2 or 3 chapters or later on. But remember the names of the people! They will be mentioned later! Anyway, please R & R and tell me what you think! Ja ne!


	2. Attacks and Confessions

_Are you getting scared?  
Maybe I'm already there  
I know healing is the  
__pain when we collide_

_-When We Collide, Negative Space_

Chapter Two: Attacks and Confessions

It was about two days after Merii figured out her feelings for Jayden and Luke. She was at the moment lying on a hill, listening to her mp3 player on medium volume. Merii sighed loudly and turned onto her side, reflecting on this fact, and what she would do about it. It just wasn't _normal_, for goodness sake! Who ever heard of a human falling in love with a Pokemon, much less two? A blush crossed the teen's face when she thought of her Swampert and Lucario. How would she tell them? Would they choose to abandon her as a Trainer? Or would they feel disgusted? She suspected that it would probably be the second one.  
'It serves me right...I'm just a freak to feel this way.'  
With this dark thought, Merii stood up and walked back to her house; heart and mind conflicted.

* * *

At Mei's house during a sleepover that night, all 4 of Merii's friends noticed her mood. She didn't really pay much attention to the movie that they chose to watch, and when they played a video game together, she came in last place every time. And this was a game that Merii was usually good at. Lara stood up after Merii had gone into the bathroom to wash up for bed.  
"I'll go talk to her."  
The red head walked to Mei's bathroom and knocked on the door.  
"Merii? Are you okay?"  
"...I'm fine."  
"No, you're not. Open the door, Merii."  
Slowly, the door opened and Merii stepped out.  
"M...Merii, were you crying? What's wrong?"

Lara immediately put an arm around her friend and led her back into the bathroom.  
"I...you're one of my best friends Lara...but...you'll think I'm a monster if I tell you..."  
Rubbing her back, Lara just chuckled.  
"Merii, you can tell me anything. We've been friends since 3rd grade. It can't be that bad."  
The darker skinned girl sniffled.  
"Y...you sure?"  
"Of course."  
"Okay...Lara...I...," she began to blush, "I...I think I'm in love..."

Instantly, a large grin appeared on the other girl's face.  
"Really? Well, why are you crying about it? That's a good thing!"  
Merii blinked several tears away.  
"W-well...I...it's not a normal...person that a girl would be in love with."  
Lara stared at her for a second.  
"Hey, if you like girls, that's okay, I don't have a problem with-"  
"No! No, I'm not in love with another girl! I...I..."  
A strange mix of anticipation and dread rose up in Merii's chest. She opened her mouth, ready to reveal her secret.

"I...I'm...I'm in love...with...," she took a deep breath, "I'minlovewithmytwoPokemon!"  
Pure silence met her.  
"What?"  
"D-did I talk too fast? I can-"  
"No, no, I understood you just fine, Merii..."  
For awhile, a strange quiet filled the air between them. Merii suspected that about ten minutes passed by and then she heard movement. The teen looked up, only to see Lara going to leave the room.  
"W-where are you going?"  
"Home."

A sharp stab of anguish struck at Merii's heart just then. Would she go and tell the others? Quickly, she stood up and followed Lara.  
"L-lara, I.."  
"Don't talk to me."  
Merii just stood there in the hall, a few tears slipping down her cheeks.

In the other room, Shawna, Alyssa and Mei were watching the newest episode of the O.C. when Lara came back into the room. However, they were all surprised when Lara went over to her sleeping bag and began to roll it up.  
"Lara...," Mei said, perplexed, "What are you doing?"  
"I'm going home."  
"H-home," Shawna asked, "Why?"  
Lara paused over her belongings for a moment.  
"...ask Merii. She'll tell you."  
At that, Lara stood and went upstairs to call her mother to come pick her up.

Soon, Merii came from the direction of the bathroom, tear going down her face. Suppressing sobs, she silently packed her things.  
"I-I'm g-g-going t-to go h-h-home too."  
And then she left.  
Needless to say, the sleepover never regained it's previously happy mood after this.

* * *

The next morning, Lara took down each photo in her room that had Merii in them, even the ones that were of them as small girls in school. She put them away into a drawer.  
"She isn't normal anymore...," she murmured as she stared at the photo in her hand; one of them just a few months ago at an amusement park. The two of them were smiling widely at the camera, flashing peace signs.  
"...but...she still is my friend..."  
Going over to her desk, she took out a Pokeball.  
"Mightyena, come out!"  
In a flash of red light, a strong looking Mightyena appeared in front of Lara. She stooped down to her Pokemon's eye level.  
"Mightyena, remember Merii?"  
The wolf-like Pokemon nodded.  
"Good. Now listen. Every day, Merii likes to take a walk near the park. Now what I want you to do is..."  
As she finished relaying her plan to Mightyena, Lara inwardly smirked. Maybe this would teach her that the boundaries between humans and Pokemon weren't meant to be crossed.

* * *

It was a nice afternoon, the sky flawless as Merii took her daily walk. For once, she felt like she needed some time to be alone, so she had left Jayden and Luke back at her house, much to their dismay. But they understood that everyone needs time to be by themselves so they relented. Merii walked by the entrance to Rustboro tunnel, lost in her own thoughts about the previous evening. Would all of her friends act like that if she told them? The part-time Coordinator paused near the tunnel and stood there, thinking. What if all her friends left her? To be honest, Merii didn't know if she could take that.

However, this train of thought didn't last long, as she heard a low growl behind her. She froze and slowly turned to see an angry looking Mightyena standing there.  
"U...um...c-can...can I...help y-you with something...?"  
More growls answered her.  
Becoming a bit more wary now, Merii chose to slowly back away from the Pokemon. But for some strange reason, the Mightyena did not relent. Eventually, Merii began to panic and ran into Rustboro tunnel. She ran through the maze-like area and the sound of growls and snarls of the angry Pokemon was always on her trail. Soon, she tripped on a rock and practically flew into a wall, creating a hole. She fell through it and the Mightyena went around, heading downwards. Merii looked down, only to see the ground coming frighteningly fast towards her. Instantly she covered her head, and shut her eyes tight. Then for a moment she saw blackness.

Merii woke soon after due to the sound of growling nearby. Obviously alarmed, she sat up quickly and saw the same furious-looking Mightyena looking at her with menancing red eyes.  
"P-please...w-what d-did I do? I-if I offended you in any way, please tell me."  
The Pokemon just sneered at her, choosing not to answer the terrified girl. It bent down, raising it's hackles up, clearly going to attack. Merii looked away, shutting her eyes tightly. She steadied herself for the certain pain about to affect her, but blinked when she heard a loud whimper. She opened her eyes and looked to see Jayden and Luke standing protectively in front of her, both glaring fiercely at the Mightyena. Said Mightyena was now holding it's front left paw up, and Merii could immediately tell that it's leg was broken.  
"Leave...Merii...alone!"  
At this, Merii's Swampert lept at the Mightyena and began fighting it. Growls and yelps were heard from the Bite Pokemon as Jayden quickly pinned it down.  
"Don't touch our Trainer again...got it?"  
The Mightyena simply nodded several times, and was relieved of its over 180 pound burden as Jayden got off. Of course, the Pokemon limped away as fast as it possibly could into the bushes and disappeared.

Shivering, Merii was quickly embraced by Jayden and Luke. For awhile, there was silence between them, the only noise being their breathing. Tears dripped down Merii's face as they hugged her.  
"I-I was so...so scared..."  
"We know Lady Merii. We know."  
At this, she burst into sobs, and Jayden began to rub her back as Luke whispered words of comfort into her ears. A few minutes later, Merii turned towards Jayden and Luke, a blush decorating her cheeks again. She had to tell them how she felt. After what had just happened, the teen was understandably very shaken, and knew that she couldn't keep how she felt inside anymore.

"J-Jayden? Luke? I-I need to t-t-tell you t-two some-t-thing..."  
The two males looked at each other, a bit confused. It wasn't like Merii to stutter at all, much less to the two of them. Thinking that the Pokemon attack must've traumatized her or the like, the two hugged her.  
"We won't let anything like that happen again, Merii."  
"Don't worry. We won't leave you."  
She looked at them.  
"I-it's not a-about the a-attack...it's...something I've felt for a long time...b-but...I didn't realize it until just recently."  
"What is it?"  
Merii blushed deeper.

"Jayden...Luke...," she looked down, her face a bright red, "I wanted to say…that…I really-I love you both. I love you both…so much."  
Then the teenager shut her eyes quickly, waiting for words of anger or disdain. However, she didn't expect the feeling of two kisses on her cheeks.  
"E...eh?"  
Kind amber eyes looked into hers.  
"Merii...we've felt that way for you for ages."  
Luke nodded.  
"Jayden and I have loved you for a long time, Lady Merii."  
Slowly, Merii's look of shock was replaced with a huge smile and she practically tackled the two as she hugged them.  
"I was scared...you two would leave me."  
Laughter.  
"We would never do that...," at this, Luke kissed her right on the lips, "we love you too much to do that."  
Not to be outdone by his best friend, Jayden kissed Merii as well, smirking a bit at her dazed look.

They both began to laugh when she just sat there, frozen. But when Merii fainted, that was when they chose to panic.

* * *

The next morning, Merii woke up in the cave, Jayden and Luke asleep by her side. She smiled loving down at them then looked up at the cliff she had to climb up to get back home. She sighed and pulled out two rarely used Pokeballs and recalled her two new lovers into them. Then she took another from her backpack and brought out her Machamp, Kaos and got onto his back.  
"Can you get me up that cliff, Kaos?"  
The Machamp grinned.  
"Of course I can."  
At that, the trainer grabbed her backpack, and they began to climb up the cliff back to safety.

From a few hundred yards away, Lara had watched the entire scene progress through her binoculars.  
"...so she didn't learn at all," she remarked as Merii hugged her two Pokemon, "that...what she feels is...abnormal. No matter..."  
Green eyes began to narrow.  
"She'll learn. She'll learn very soon."

* * *

Author's Note: I'm sorry it took so long for me to update! Goldeneye101 had to give me an idea for this chapter, then of course I got another idea and combined them, which is essentially the chapter you've just read. Anyway, please review! -points to the little purple/blue button on the lower left hand screen-

Also, I will say that there is a VERY good reason for Lara's behavior in this chapter. Said reason for this behavior though...-cackles- won't be revealed until Part 2 of the fic! -laughs evilly and runs away-


	3. Betrayals and Reflections

A/N: ….Um…sorry I didn't update in so long. XD Forgive me guys! Well, life got in the way, and there was that long hiatus when I wasn't even ON , but still… Oh, and in here you start to learn about Merii's other Pokémon; you'll know all of them before chapter seven. :3 Well, you all met Kaos the Machamp last chapter, but yeah…anyway…I'm moving on the 15th-just a few days-so don't be surprised if I'm not on for a bit...oh, here's chapter three!

_Falling in love  
is all bitter sweet  
This love is strong  
why do I feel weak_

_-How Do I Know, Whitney Houston_

Chapter Three: Betrayals and Reflections

As Merii woke, the rain was pounding on her roof. Jayden and Luke were both snuggled next to her in separate chairs, still sleeping. She smiled down at the two of them before sitting up and stretching.

It had only been 2 days since she had confessed her feelings towards the two Pokémon, and it had been a quiet two days. Her two new mates-it still made her feel fuzzy inside when she said or thought those words-were now taken to sleeping in chairs next to her bed instead of in their Pokeballs. They had tried using a beanbag chair because of the higher comfort level, but after one of Luke's spikes had punctured one, the two had decided to use the chairs from the small kitchen as beds.

Merii soon went over to the window in her room and opened the blind, letting the light in. Well, light _would_ be coming in if it was a nice day out. Instead, it was raining heavily and a faint rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Great…," she murmured sarcastically. "Well, at least Jayden will be happy. He still loves the mud."

Turning, she went to gently shake Luke awake, knowing that the Lucario loved to get up early to train then remembered the rain and stopped herself. He could sleep a bit longer. In the meantime, she'd make breakfast for them all. It was a sit-at-home-and-be-lazy type of day anyway. Grabbing one of the Pokeballs on her dresser, she opened it.

"Come out, Rika!"

In a burst of red light, a cheery Ampharos came out, smiling happily at Merii.

"Good morning, Merii!"  
Beaming as always at her electric Pokémon-the only female in her group never failed to pass her good mood onto others-Merii pointed towards the kitchen.  
"Want to help me cook breakfast?"  
"Heeheehee, sure!"  
The two went to the kitchen and began to work, the smell of food soon filling the small house. Of course it would end up waking Jayden and Luke. After waking up Kaos and Tourin, her Ursaring, the two had gladly joined Merii and the rest in the kitchen.

As she ate the piece of toast in front of her, Merii looked down. She had a feeling that this day would not stay like this. All happy and full of life. She had to tell Alyssa, Shawna and Mei about her mates today. And the way that Lara had reacted just a few days earlier…well, Merii knew that she would be lucky to have even one of them accept it.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

A few hours later, Shawna and Alyssa were sitting in Merii's room. Both girls had a look of confusion on their faces. All Merii had told them by way of texting was that she had something important to tell them, and that they should come together. Neither knew that she had done this to hopefully get a better reaction if there were two of them, and not one.

"What's this all about, Merii?"  
"Yeah...what's going on?"  
Merii sat and fidgeted with her hands a bit, nervousness creeping through her body. Then she took a deep breath and calmed down. It would probably be better with two of them there. Maybe if one accepted it the other would too.  
_'There's always hope,'_ she thought.

"Well, a few days ago...I figured something out about myself. Something...a bit important. But not bad," Merii said quickly, starting to see the look of worry on their faces, "It's not like I'm pregnant or anything."  
She didn't know whether to be amused or offended at how quick the looks of worry disappeared. Did she really give off that type of vibe?  
_'Maybe it's because of my mom's past...since she was single when she raised me and all. The cycle repeating...'_

"Wait...," Shawna began, "Does it have to do with what happened a few days ago at the sleepover? It made Lara leave and you were crying your eyes out."  
Knowing that she'd be reminded of the incident, but no less saddened by it, Merii looked away.  
"Yeah...it does."  
At this, Alyssa and Shawna both gave her looks of sympathy.

"Hey, it's okay," Alyssa said, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "We won't leave in a huff like that."  
"I really hope so..."  
Shawna grinned.  
"Come on, we've been friends since, like, forever. We won't abandon you."  
Despite the fear she had that they would do just that, Merii couldn't help but smile.

"Okay. Well, just recently...I learned something about two of my Pokemon. You know, Jayden and Luke."  
At this, the two just grinned wider.  
"They follow you around all the time," Alyssa gushed. "It's so cute, you know...well, it was cuter when they were younger, but now it's more...inspiring. To see a pair of Pokemon that are so loyal to their trainer."  
"Yeah, I wish that my Pokemon were that loyal to me. I mean, they are but your Swampert and Lucario...they're _really_ loyal."  
"Well...there's a reason for that loyalty. You see, they told me...yes, I can understand them Shawna, don't make that face."  
"I'm sorry, it's just kind of funny. You talk to them a lot, but when they respond back they just say their names...well, Jayden does. Luke does that cool aura-telepathy thing. But anyway go on."  
Sweatdropping a bit, Merii chuckled.

"Okay. Anyway, they told me a few days ago that they have...how to put this...they have...feelings for me."  
Alyssa blinked.  
"What type of feelings?"  
Merii blushed, looking down.  
"They...um..."  
"Wait, wait, wait...," Shawna said, "Do they..._like_ you? Like in a romantic way?"  
Merii nodded quickly.  
"...y...yeah...you can understand why I....why I didn't tell you right away."  
"Well, of course we understand."  
A tiny glimmer of hope fluttered in Merii's chest.  
"You do?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's kind of an awkward situation, right? Obviously, it's some weird one-sided thing, and of course it'd make you uncomfortable. They're Pokemon after all. You just don't hear about that."  
"Wait, I didn't mean-"  
"Alyssa? What do you think?"  
The blond had a look of contemplation on her face.  
"Well...can't you just...you know, neuter them or something if they're like that?"  
Merii supposed that the look of horror on her face was evident, for Alyssa held up her hands in what was supposed to be a calming gesture, though all it did was irritate Merii more.  
"Hey, it was just a thought...no need to freak out..."

Shawna nodded.  
"Yeah, we're just trying to help you out, Merii. I mean, I know that you must be really concerned about what to do with them now. But...I'm sure there must be some medicine or something to make them better, and-"  
"I don't _want_ them to 'get better'."  
Looking down at the floor, Merii tried to contain her nearly bursting emotions.  
"But...Merii...they...have this weird attraction towards you, and-"  
"It's not just some weird attraction. They LOVE me."

She looked up, then avoided their eyes again, not wanting to see their faces because of what she would say next.  
"And..."  
"And...?"  
This was it. Either she would say it now, or keep it in forever.  
"...and I love them too."

When the silence in the room had gotten too much for her to bear, Merii looked up. Both girls were looking at her as if she had committed some great sin, something that was unforgivable.  
"Merii...," Alyssa said slowly, as if she was talking to a stupid person, "They're Pokemon. Not humans. No matter how much you hang out with them. Nothing will change that."  
"I know that...and frankly, I don't care. I love the two of them more than anything. And they feel the same towards me. It just took me longer to figure it out."  
There was more silence. Then finally, Shawna stood up, sighing as she did.

"I'm sorry. But I can't hang out with someone who would...," Shawna didn't continue the sentence, and shuddered a bit, "Sorry Merii. Come back when you get some sense."  
Alyssa nodded as well, though Merii didn't see it. She was too busy staring at the floor again.  
"Yeah. Listen, if you want to go and...do that with Pokemon, fine. Just don't bring me into it."  
Within three minutes, the duo had left the house and opened their umbrellas up in the rain. A few minutes later, Merii called her Pokemon back to her room. She was still looking at the floor. Luke noticed that her shoulders were shaking heavily.

Obviously the calm front that she had on display for everyone was crumbling. They all exchanged looks. Then Jayden stepped forward.  
"Merii..."  
That simple word from her Swampert made Merii burst into tears, breaking the silence. It was like this for about 30 seconds, the only sound being the teen's sobs. Then her two mates stooped down and took her into their arms, rocking her gently back and forth as she poured out her sorrow. Knowing that this was not the moment to intrude, Rika, Kaos and Tourin went into their Pokeballs. And Merii held her two mates tightly and cried.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

The next day, Merii was waiting in her room again, this time for Mei. Jayden and Luke were sitting with her. At the moment, Jayden was looking at bit absentmindedly out the window at the storm. Luke was lazily browsing the photos on Merii's dresser. The two of them were there at their mate's request; in case she broke down in the middle of the conversation they could come and get her. But she'd try at it alone first. The agreement was there if only they heard yelling or crying; then they would come in.

This was the last of her friends. Merii wasn't the type to have a ton of acquaintances; she had a few close friends, but would be loyal to them to the end. If she lost Mei's friendship...she wouldn't know what she would do. She would have Jayden, Luke and her Pokemon but still. She was scared that it would be too painful. And Merii would be tempted to do what she did nearly 3 years ago, when her mother died rather suddenly due to an illness.  
'No. I won't let myself go down that road again. Never again. Besides, I have my mates now. They'll keep me going, I know it.'

The sound of the doorbell interrupted Merii's thoughts. Mei was here. Getting up from the edge of her bed, the 15-year-old went to the front door and opened it.  
"Hey Mei."  
"Hey Mer-you okay? You look like you've been crying a lot."  
"Yeah, well...it's true. Just come in."  
They went into the kitchen first.  
"...want anything to drink," Merii asked as she opened the fridge and got out some apple juice for herself, "I have a lot. Soda, water, juice of many kinds..."  
"Just water's fine."  
Quietly, she poured her friend a glass and handed it to her.  
"We can talk in my room, if that's okay."  
"Yeah, that's fine. Whatever you want."

Then the two girls walked up the stairs to Merii's room. When she opened the door, Merii was a bit surprised to see Jayden and Luke still there. Even though they had an agreement, both looked reluctant to leave her alone again. Even though Merii understood this, she quickly cast her mates a furtive glance. Fortunately, the two understood.  
Jayden and Luke quietly left the room. The sounds of the television were soon heard.  
"So…the rain. Sucks, huh?"  
"Yeah…"

An awkward silence filled the room. Looking around, Mei sat down in the beanbag chair-Merii had forgotten to take it to the curb earlier-and blinked in surprise when it deflated under her, little beans falling out. She quickly stood up.  
"Um…"  
"Luke's spikes."  
"Ah."  
More silence.  
Merii blushed.  
"Mei...I wanted to tell you something."  
The brunette girl turned around from looking at the posters of famous Trainers and their Pokémon on Merii's wall, a curious look on her face.  
"Eh? What is it?"  
"You'd best sit down."

Feeling a bit concerned now, Mei sat on a chair next to Merii's bed.  
"Listen, you've been my friend for a long time now. And I feel that I can trust you with this."  
"What is it?"  
"Well, recently I…found out about something…about myself…it's rather a life-changing thing, and…it's one of those things that you'd need support for."  
With each word, Mei grew more concerned for Merii.  
"Merii, are you pregnant?"  
"WHAT?! NO!"  
Now, Merii was blushing furiously. However, Mei was not deterred.  
"Hey, chill," she said while holding up her hands in a 'calm down' gesture. "I just thought..."  
"Yeah, well you thought wrong..."

"Well, if you're not pregnant, then what do you have to tell me that's making you look so serious?"  
Merii's blush grew deeper.  
"Um...well...Luke and Jayden..."  
"Your Lucario and your Swampert? What about them?"  
She wasn't going to walk around it this time. Maybe just saying it outright would provide enough shock for her to explain her feelings before Mei could reject her outright.

"Well...," Merii closed her eyes tight. "They love me."  
Mei blinked.  
"What's wrong with that? Lots of Pokemon love their Trainers."  
"No, you don't get it. I mean...love me. Like...romantic love."  
Now Mei's eyes grew wide.  
"W...whoa. Seriously?"  
Merii only nodded.  
"Wow....wait, why are you telling me this?"  
The girl just looked down and murmured something.  
"What Merii?"  
"…you….you're the only friend I have left…"

Mei's gaze softened as she realized what this meant; Merii was in love with them too.  
Mei got up from the beanbag chair and took her friend into a hug. Even if other people left Merii, she wouldn't abandon her best friend.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Silent as she watched the storm rage outside, Lara stared angrily as Shawna and Alyssa walked away from her house.  
'She still...even after they rejected her too...even now...?'  
In the distance, lara could see where Merii worked part-time; the nearby Day Care center.  
'...if losing most of her friends won't change how she lives...then maybe losing her only source of income will...'

* * *

End Note: Damn, I'm mean to my characters. Esepcially Merii. (laughs) Well, the next chapter will be more angsty...considering that Lara decides to be a jerk even more next chapter. As you can surely tell by the cliffhanger...anyway, please review alright? Thanks for reading!


	4. Darkness Closing In

A/N: Well, here's chapter four….yes, it's another angst-filled chapter. XD Don't worry, not every chapter will be filled with angst…well…maybe…(shifts eyes suspiciously)

_Started as a flicker, meant to be a flame  
Skin has gotten thicker, but it burns the same  
Still a baby in a cradle, got to take my first fall  
Baby's getting next to nowhere with a back against the wall  
__-Bottle It Up, Sara Bareilles_

Chapter Four: Darkness Closing In

The day after Merii told Mei of her new mates, it was still raining. The girl groaned in disappointment.

"The weather man lied _again_! He said it'd just be partly cloudy…"

She turned off her protesting alarm clock-it pronounced the time as 9 AM-and sat up, stretching out the kinks from her sleep.  
"But nooo…God decided to make it rain."  
Getting up, she grabbed the clothes that she had set out the night before and went to get dressed for work. Luke walked by when she had gotten out of the bathroom. He was holding his meditation mat and looking disappointed.  
"I wanted to meditate outside today…"  
"I know, but maybe tomorrow."  
"Yeah…"

The Lucario turned and went into the kitchen and opened the fridge using a bit of Aura, seeing that his paws wouldn't be able to turn the handle, and grabbed a container of some bitter berries inside labeled with his name.  
"Well, I'm off to work."  
"Have a good day, Lady Merii."  
"Thanks…"  
And with that, the trainer took her umbrella and opened the door, going to walk down the road for a few miles to where she worked. But if she knew that Lara had called the Day Care Center earlier…she wouldn't have gone at all.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

It was about an hour later when Merii reached the Day Care Center. She was determined to work hard today, even though her amount of friends had gone down from 4 to 1 in just a few short days. She had to. Food and bills didn't pay for themselves, after all. The young woman was already putting on her work shirt in the women's employee changing room when one of her coworkers, Clarissa poked her head in.  
"Hey Merii, the boss lady wants to talk to you in her office."

A bit confused now, Merii nodded. Their boss, Mrs. Kishimori but better known as the Day Care Lady rarely had one on one talks with her and her husband's employees. Usually they just preferred to have group meetings. Walking down the hall to Mr. and Mrs. Kishimori's shared office, she knocked.  
"Come in."  
Merii turned the handle on the door and stepped in. As she expected, Mr. and Mrs. Kishimori were both there. But then she saw someone that made her blood run cold.  
"Lara."

Her former friend simply looked at Merii with an emotionless expression on her freckled face, her emerald green eyes betraying no feeling at all.

"We got a rather disturbing phone call this morning, Ms. Fuhennori."  
Merii didn't respond. She had a feeling that it would just make things worse if she did.

"This brave young woman here had called us, and told us that you were having an…inappropriate relationship with two of your Pokemon. Now, we were reluctant to believe Ms. Akuno at first, since you have always been a good and honest worker in the past. But then," Mr. Kishimori continued as he opened a drawer in his desk, "we were emailed this."

Tossing a piece of paper onto the table, Merii bent to look at it. On the piece of paper was a photo in black and white, showing her and her mates. Jayden was hugging Merii close and Luke was kissing Merii's cheek. Even though there was a significent lack of color in the picture, she could still see that she was blushing in the picture. But the wide, happy smile on her face was evident.

"Miss Fuhennori," Mrs. Kishimori began, "after we saw this, we were very tempted to call the police. But then Miss Akuno here so kindly vouched for your behavior in the past, and said that your...behaviors only began very recently. So that is why we won't call the authorities on you, and why we are still letting you have your final paycheck."  
"...may...I ask why you would call the police on me?"  
"Well, isn't it obvious," Lara finally spoke up, "Because you would probably try to do inappropriate things with other people's Pokemon here."  
Merii was speechless, gaping at the redhead.  
"Exactly. If something were to happen, a bad reputation would be the least of our worries. We'd most certainly would lose our business, and would very likely have the police investigating our establishment to see if this was occurring for a long time before. There would be a very strong likelihood that one of us could be tried in court. Now," Mr. Kishimori continued as he put the photo into the shredder nearby, "if you leave now with your paycheck, we won't press charges. But as for your career here...I'm sorry to say that it is done. You understand why you can't work here anymore, am I correct?"

Feeling a numb feeling enveloping her, Merii nodded.  
"I…I understand."  
Mrs. Kishimori handed Merii an envelope.  
"Here is your final paycheck."  
Merii looked down at the small yellow envelope blankly. It had the words _Last Wages _written neatly in script on the front.  
"…Thank you."  
Slowly, the 15-year-old turned and walked out of the room. Collecting her bag from her locker, she packed her umbrella into it. Finally she left the building and began to walk back down the path. She barely made it 5 steps before starting to run. The rain was soaking her to the bone.

But she didn't care.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Jayden and Luke were both watching TV with Merii's other Pokemon Rika, Tourin and Kaos when they heard the door slam shut. Quickly Luke turned the television off. They all knew that Merii wasn't supposed to get home for several more hours.  
"Merii?"

There was a banging sound, and then silence. The five Pokemon peeked into the kitchen. Their trainer stood there, soaking wet from the rain. Her ponytail had fallen from its hair tie and was cascading down Merii's back. She was looking down at the floor, panting heavily. Her bag was across the room, obviously having been thrown at the wall, causing the bang sound.  
"…Lady Merii?"  
She said nothing in return. Finally, Rika went over and put a single paw on the girl's shoulder. This simple gesture made Merii fall to her knees and start to sob. They were deep, anguished ones, and Merii quickly wrapped her arms around her own body, as if she was trying to protect herself. Quickly Rika, Tourin, Kaos and Luke all held her as she cried.

Jayden was about to hug his mate as well, when he noticed that a small yellow envelope had fallen from her bag. The envelope, as well as everything else in her bag, was mostly dry seeing as the bag was a waterproof one. The Swampert silently picked it up. His eyes widened upon seeing the words on the front.

"Merii? Why…why aren't you working anymore?"  
Her other Pokemon's words of encouragement stilled, as well as their trainer's sobs. There was a long, tense silence. Finally, Merii spoke.  
"…they found out. About you, Luke and me."  
Jayden bent down and hugged Merii tightly.  
"…how?"  
"…it was Lara, wasn't it," Luke finally said. None of them were surprised he didn't call her Lady anymore. She had lost that privilege the moment that she had started to hurt Merii.  
"She…was there. With Mr. and Mrs. Kishimori…she had told them…but she twisted it…to make it seem like…like I would hurt the other Pokemon there…like I was some type of predator or something."

There was quiet. Then Kaos let out a curse and Rika started to cry along with Merii when the realization set in. She wasn't able to just take care of them anymore.

Luke sighed.

"We'll…we'll think of something, Lady Merii. I know we will."

"How?! In no time I'm sure that other people will find out about us! And when they do, I don't know what'll happen! What will we do?!"

"_Merii_, I said that we'll think of something. Just…please calm down. For me and for Jayden's sakes at least."  
Luke and Jayden's girlfriend sniffed. It was very rare when Luke didn't call her Lady Merii, so when he did she tended to listen.  
"O-okay. I…I just…," Merii sighed and composed herself a bit. "I…just don't know how we're going to survive now. I mean…no money means no more food, right? Heheheh…"  
The laugh sounded so fake and they all knew it. But if it helped their Trainer cope, then they'd let her. This calm was a small one. Soon she'd start crying again when all of it caught up with her. But for now, they'd start preparing for what could come.

Jayden let go of his mate and quickly went to the living room and brought back Merii's laptop. He opened it up and turned it on, quickly figuring out the password and getting in. No one protested. There was the sound of rapid typing for a few minutes.  
"…someone get me the printer so I can hook it up."  
Tourin quickly left and then came back, the Ursaring having also brought back several papers. Soon the printer was making its usual noise as it produced pages on the local hotels in the area. Seeing the questioning look on Jayden's face, the Ursaring looked down at the papers.  
"…Merii's important stuff. Her birth certificate, trainer license…all that. It was in a box under her bed."  
"Good. We're going to need it."

Then taking the hint, Kaos and Luke began to search the house for anything else important, soon coming back with the things that no one could live without. Because the more Lara interfered in their lives, the more that it seemed like they wouldn't be able to live in Verdanturf much longer.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Meanwhile, at Lara's house, the said redhead was sitting in her room with the shades drawn closed, the only light coming from the single lamp next to her bedside.

"I hate her. I hate her, and I know that if she loses everything she'll change…"  
Lara continued to mutter to herself as she kept writing in her diary-turned-revenge-planning-book. From the hall, her Mightyena was watching her sadly. His mistress had changed within just a week. She wasn't the Lara he knew. She wasn't the Lara that he… Sighing, he turned away to go back to the porch outside, where he often was when he was out of his Pokeball. Since his leg was just about healed due to the prompt medical attention it had gotten, he could act.

A few hours later, Lara had fallen fast asleep on her bed, the small notebook that she had been writing in open before her. Then a shadow appeared in the room. Then the Mightyena to whom that shadow belonged entered. This was already hurting him beyond belief, but he couldn't live like this anymore. Not watching his trainer becoming something that was from the darkness. The Mightyena knew what he had to do. Spotting his empty Pokeball on Lara's dresser, he stood on his hind legs and knocked it down with his nose. A single tear going down into the fur on his cheek, he stomped onto his Pokeball, destroying it before leaping from the window onto a tree and disappearing into the night.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

For a while, Merii had been sitting on the couch with her mates. Tourin, Kaos and Rika had retreated into the other room to give the trio some time alone. And right now...they needed it. Merii was crying again.

"Why?! Why is she doing this to me," Merii asked through her sobs, "Why can't she just leave me alone?!"  
Both her Swampert and her Lucario were silent. Neither knew the answer to her questions and, frankly, they had the same questions on their hearts. But they all knew that they would most likely never find out why.

But then there was a scratching noise at the front door. Merii stifled her sobs for a moment and looked up, silent.  
"Want us to go see who it is, Merii?"  
"No, no…I'll go look. You guys can stay here. I'll call you if I need you."

Wiping her eyes, Merii let go of her two guys to go see who the heck was scratching at her door.

_Why can't they just knock? _

This question was answered the moment she opened her door.  
Lara's Mightyena was standing on Merii's front porch, looking very upset. Merii was silent, staring at the Pokemon before her. Soon there were footsteps from behind her.  
"Lady Merii, who is-"  
"Oh shit, not him again!"  
Immediately, Jayden and Luke got in front of Merii in protective stances.

"What are you doing here?"  
"Man, why are you asking him? Let's just kick his ass again so we can have some peace."  
"…I'm not here to fight you."  
"Then what the hell are you here for, you son of a-"  
"Jayden."  
Instantly the Swampert went silent. Merii pushed past her mates and stooped down to the Mightyena's eye level.  
"I take it that this is important."  
Clearly surprised that he was being acknowledged in a way that wasn't another ass-beating, the Mightyena gaped for a moment. Then he shook his head to clear his mind, and looked at Merii with a serious look on his face.  
"Yes. It's…quite important. May I come in?"  
"Of course."  
At this, the girl and the canine-like Pokemon entered the room, Jayden and Luke following with curious expressions on their faces now.

Within a few minutes they were all sitting in the living room. Merii was absentmindedly eating some of the mixed berries on the table, having offered some to the Mightyena, who refused politely. Jayden and Luke were still shooting the "enemy" Pokemon suspicious glances, even though he had done nothing to show that he was there due to a malicious reason so far.

"So. Why are you here, Mightyena?"  
He sighed and looked down at the plate of berries in front of him.  
"…I can't take it at my…former mistress' house anymore. I…I want to join you."

The statement took everyone by surprise. Finally the silence was broken by Merii, asking the question that was on all three of their minds.  
"Why?"  
"…I don't want to do what Lara says anymore."  
"Why not? You were perfectly happy doing her bidding before."  
"I hate to admit it, but Jayden's right. Why the sudden change?"

"She…she's changed. Drastically. When I'm around her, she just seems to…all she seems to concentrate on now is hurting you and your two mates. I don't know why she's like this…I mean, there are some things I could think of, but they're more and more unlikely the more I think of them. And I…I don't like to see her like this. Even her parents have noticed."  
Mightyena paused, and Luke took this moment to speak up.  
"Well, I can understand that she's changed. We've all known her for years, but it's all of a sudden like all that is moot and she wants to hurt us. We don't know why. But now you show up on our doorstep, asking to join us. Why?"

At this, the dark-type looked down.  
"I…can't bear to see her like this anymore. I…if being near her means seeing her turn into someone that I don't know anymore, then I don't want to."

Then to everyone's shock, he started to cry a bit. It was Merii who first figured it out.  
"You…love her, don't you?"  
He nodded.  
"I do...but…I can't bear to watch her act like this anymore…if…if I stay with you guys for a bit…maybe she'll see that what she's doing is wrong…and stop doing what she's doing."  
Jayden, Merii and Luke exchanged looks. They doubted that greatly. But either way…  
"Okay, you can join us. But first…you have to promise to never go back to Lara. That is, unless she changes. Then it'll be okay."  
"I promise."  
"Oh," Jayden added, "if you ever hurt Merii again…"  
"I won't."  
"Okay, then you're in."  
The Mightyena lowered his head in what was unmistakably his version of a bow.  
"Thank you…"

"Now, you need a nickname."  
Luke sighed in exasperation.  
"Jayden, he doesn't NEED a nickname…"  
"Hey, I'm not going to just call him Mightyena. Do you know how many Mightyena there are in the world? He's getting a nickname."  
Luke just rolled his eyes.  
Said Mightyena blinked.  
"Can I pick my name?"  
"Sure. Come on, we'll look up cool names on the internet."  
With that, Jayden led the Mightyena off, the former still talking rapidly.

"…So…another one, huh?"  
Merii looked at her Lucario mate, smiling a bit.  
"It seems I have a thing for rescuing Pokemon from bad situations, huh?"  
"It's how you got everyone else…well, except for Jayden. In a way he rescued you."  
Merii hugged Luke in return.  
"Yeah…now come on. Let's help our new friend pick a cool name."  
"Alright…"

A few hours later, the 7 of them-trainer and Pokemon were all snuggled together in the living room, Merii having pulled out the large blow-up mattress she used for sleepovers. Onteros the Mightyena was the last one awake. He was watching the stars out the living room window as everyone around him drifted to sleep. Maybe being with this trainer wouldn't be so bad. Saying a silent prayer for Lara to be well, he fell into slumber.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Lara was angrily stomping around her room, looking through her things.  
"Dammit, where is it?!"  
She tore through old photo albums and scrapbooks, searching for a single photo. Finally, she found the old picture of her as a young girl, perhaps 10 or 11 with a small Poochyena in her arms; both looked happy beyond belief. The teenager simply stared at it for a moment, then ripped it up into very small pieces and let them fall to the floor. She wiped at her watering eyes furiously before throwing the pieces of paper into the trash.  
"I don't need him…I don't need anyone…"  
Then she went over to her bed and took out an old phonebook, searching through it.

"Merii will suffer…her and her filthy mates, and that traitor of a Pokemon that left me…"

At last finding the phone number that she had been looking for, a terrible smile alighted across her pink lips.

"And now," she circled the number using a red pen, "There is someone that can do that for me…"

_______________________________________

End Note: Oh man, I felt so bad having Merii go through that with her bosses! (cries) I almost didn't write the scene, actually. I was just going to have Merii come home from work a few hours earlier than usual and her have the breakdown. But I was listening to my iPod to Lara's soundtrack that I made for her and I was like "OMG what if Lara was there when the Day Care people fired her? It'd be so mean…" So yeah. I could see Lara doing something like that at this point in the story, so tada.

She's being even more bitchy than before. And…yes, she continues to be bitchy throughout the story. But don't worry. She won't be in every chapter…well, at least until chapter…(thinks) 15. Well, she turns up again in chapter 13, but she's not in chapter 14 so yeah…Anyway, after chapter 15 she is at least mentioned in every chapter…(There are going to be at least 32 chapters in this fic…well, 31 unless you count the interlude-the one dividing parts one and two of the fic…) Okay, I'm done rambling. Basically, in the second half of the fic-chapter 16-onwards she plays a HUGE role. Mwahaha.

Okay, the next chapter….(blushes)…there will be a lemon. It will take up most of the chapter…since…well, I'm actually pretty good at writing lemons. Much better than writing fanfic in general, which is pathetic. If I put as much detail into my regular stories as I do into my lemons…well, I think that my fics would be much longer as a result, at the very least.

Anyway, Merii will decide to go farther with Jayden and Luke-but they don't go all the way. After all, she's only 15. She's the type of girl who wants to wait until she's a bit older anyway. What can I say, she's a bit old fashioned. Also, since her mother was single and had to raise Merii on her own, Merii doesn't want something like that to happen to her. Even though Jayden and Luke are Pokemon…she just doesn't want to make any mistakes that she'll end up regretting.

But who Lara calls will be revealed at the end of next chapter…bwahaha. And no, she doesn't call a hit-man or the mafia or anything. I'll give you a hint: it's someone from Merii's past, and they have been mentioned before. (Albeit perhaps indirectly) …maybe that was too obvious a hint. Either way, you can guess in the reviews if you like. But as for you people that already KNOW-(stares at a group of people that KNOW WHO THEY ARE)-if you guys say anything I'll sic Suicune on you! Anyway, please review this chapter. It's the first piece of fan fiction that I've written at my new place! Wheee! (runs off with Suicune then pokes her head back in) Oh, for those of you that are curious, Lara's last name means bad child in Japanese. Heeheehee. (runs)


	5. Vulnerability and Trust

-1A/N: Hey guys, here's chapter five…(looks at the number of alerts she's getting for this story) It's nice that people like this story, but some reviews would be nice too…(pouts) And while looking at the previous chapters published on fan , I keep noticing little errors that I didn't catch when I first wrote the said chapters…and it's annoying. XD I keep thinking about going to edit them, but then I realize that I would have to basically reupload each chapter. And thus lose all the reviews I have so far. Which would suck. XD Anyway, enjoy the chapter! (tosses you lemons of lemony goodness)

Disclaimer: …and if you're wondering, Merii is using the Pokemon world's version of foldable U-Haul boxes. XD Don't own those, or any of the other real-life things mentioned in here. All I own is my Ocs, and this plot. And my Lucario and Darkrai plushies, and my few Pokemon video games. XD

_No, this feeling doesn't end  
It's with me everywhere I am  
Hope it never goes away  
It's like defying gravity_

_-Lost, Faith Hill_

Chapter Five: Vulnerability and Trust

Only a few hours had passed since Merii woke up. She had sat up in what she thought was her bed, when she noticed that all of her Pokemon, including her two mates Jayden and Luke, were sleeping around her. Remembering the previous day, which included losing her job, made the sole human in the room frown. It hurt, but Merii knew that she and her Pokemon had to leave Verdanturf soon. Before something bad happened. But enough about that now. The girl was determined to make this a good day, despite the events of the previous.

Gingerly, she got up, careful not to wake any of the other Pokemon. They had stayed up quite late the previous night planning and talking, and she knew that they needed their sleep. Going down into the basement, she started to grab empty boxes. They were folded up, but soon they would be in their proper shape, and filled with various household items. She took several trips like this, and soon the kitchen table had several folded up piles of boxes on it.

Soon, her Pokemon began to wake up, and wander into the kitchen. It only took about 20 minutes for them all to assemble into the kitchen when they realized what the boxes were for. Luke, for example, saw the boxes and with a few quick strides, had woken Jayden, who had woken up everyone else.

"Okay. Because last night I…freaked out a bit-and I'm sorry if I worried any of you with that-I've decided that we might as well start packing stuff up today. I don't know if we'll be able to everything in boxes. Some might have to go into storage…I'm going to go out and see if I can rent one of those storage garages for at least a few months for some of the larger things, like the TV and entertainment center stuff. The smaller things like the DVDs and books can go into boxes. I know we won't finish everything today, but…well, I want to get at least one or two rooms packed away. It's a small house so it shouldn't take us TOO long. Oh, and PLEASE be careful, okay? Try not to break anything."

Putting her iPod into the iSound, the teen shuffled about a few dozen songs and set it to "Repeat All". And then she grinned at her Pokemon as they got to work, talking animatedly as they did. Merii, meanwhile, went to the kitchen to make all of them breakfast. They'd need food to get through the day.

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A few hours later, Merii, Jayden, Luke, and the rest of her Pokemon were well under way packing things up. Everyone was helping in their own way. Jayden, Kaos and Tendius, being the strongest physically, were lifting the heaviest items. Rika, Onteros and Luke were helping Merii with the smaller things. Some of the rooms, like the bathroom and the kitchen, were going to be mostly untouched for at least a few days due to them being essential, while other rooms like the bedroom and the living room were being stripped of everything but the most important things.

As Merii began to pack several of the DVDs from near the TV into the nearest small box, Luke walked over.

"Lady Merii…later…like this evening perhaps…Jayden and I would like to talk to you about something. Is that alright?"  
Merii blinked in slight surprise.  
"Of course. You guys can talk to me about anything."

Luke kissed Merii's cheek.  
"Thank you."

After that, Merii shrugged and kept going on with packing. It must've been important if they asked to speak to her alone. Maybe it had to do with their situation. That would make sense. A brief tinge of worry entered her. Were they rethinking being her mates? Then she shook her head. No, that didn't make any sense. They would have already said something, she knew.

Or maybe…Merii began to blush. She looked over to her two mates. Jayden was at the moment bending over to pick up one of the boxes on the floor. Even from several feet away she could see his muscles flexing beneath his smooth skin as he picked it up. Merii began to blush to herself, and looked away, over to where Luke was talking. Almost unconsciously, her eyes wandered up and down his lean body. Then she noticed that she was staring. Rika was noticing her stares and began to giggle as she packed away the books.

"Can't keep your eyes off of them, huh Merii?"  
Immediately flushing deep red, Merii shook her head.  
"I…no….I mean yes…I mean…"  
Rika burst into laughter, drawing a few curious glances for a moment.  
"It's okay. Besides…," the Ampharos leaned in whispering, a slight blush on her yellow cheeks now, "I get that way sometimes looking at Tendius. Don't tell him."  
Merii giggled this time too, and kept packing.  
"Don't worry, I won't."  
Though for the rest of the afternoon, the blush didn't leave her face as thoughts of her mates…doing things with her began to go through her head.

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Later that night, Merii was sitting on her bed, as Jayden and Luke came into the room behind her. They sat on the bed as well, and hugged her. Merii smiled. They were so affectionate, she loved it.  
"Merii…there's something that we want to ask you."  
"Okay…"  
"Well…we were wondering…um…well…"

Jayden began to blush, as did Luke. A bit curious now, Merii prodded on.  
"Well? What did you want to ask me?"

Their blushes just went deeper.

Merii inwardly sighed and waited. When about 5 minutes had passed, she let the sigh out.

"Listen, if you aren't going to say anything, I'm going to leave. I still have to-"

"Lady Merii…"  
Merii stopped, and looked at them. The two males were looking at her with expressions on their faces that…she really couldn't describe. She was able to see something vulnerable in them, yet she saw also love. And yet there was something else…something else that, even though she had known the two for a few years now, that she couldn't pin.

"Can we…see you? All of you?"

Merii looked at Jayden and Luke as the words sank in. Then, slowly, she felt a deep blush go across her face. …Was she ready for that type of intimacy? She was still only a teenager, but then again…she had noticed the way she had been looking at the two Pokemon lately. Especially today. And it was true, Merii did want to. She really did. The teen just wanted to be ready. After a long moment, the girl looked up at her two mates, a smile on her lips.

"Y-yes. But please…be gentle, ok?"

The Swampert and the Lucario both embraced her, pulling her close.

"We always will."

Then, before they started, Luke got up and shut the door and closed the blinds, then went back to his best friend and his girlfriend, and sat on the bed. Jayden began to kiss Merii's neck as Luke ran his paws down the girl's side.

"Oh…and…l…let's not go all the way, alright? I…I'm not ready for that yet. Let's just…"  
Luke just chuckled and kissed his mate on the cheek.

"We know, Lady Merii."

"Yeah…right now…we just want to make you happy. So anytime you want us to stop, just tell us, alright?"

"…okay."  
And then Merii lay down on the bed, smiling when her two mates lay down next to her.

"We do love you…"

"I love you guys too."

Jayden began to kiss Merii's neck again, and Luke continued to run his paws down Merii's sides. Luke began to kiss Merii on her lips, his own warm. When they had kissed for awhile, Luke opened his mouth. His girlfriend flushed but opened her mouth, letting his tongue in to dance with hers. Slowly, she started to feel a familiar sensation running through her. It was the same sensation she had when watching Jayden and Luke earlier today. When she was near them in general. But now it was heightened.

Meanwhile, Jayden was sneaking his fins up Merii's shirt from behind, cupping them around her cotton-covered breasts. She groaned into Luke's mouth as Jayden began to massage her chest, Merii unable to keep from arching against his fins. The Trainer pressed Luke closer to her as their kiss simply got more passionate.

Soon, Jayden and Luke both stopped and helped Merii to remove her shirt. Then she reached behind herself and unhooked her bra, letting it fall off of her. At this point Jayden and Luke had each grabbed a hold of a breast and were each massaging them, sending more heat through Merii's body. The said heat kept pooling between her thighs and the warmth only grew as her mates continued.

Their girlfriend moaned and looked down, noticing immediately that both Jayden and Luke's members were poking against them, becoming harder with each second that passed. Merii blushed upon feeling this and reached down to touch them and get a better look, but they stopped her.

"…not yet, Lady Merii. Later, alright?"

Blushing more, Merii nodded. Then she gasped when both Jayden and Luke captured a breast and put the hardened nipples in between their lips, sucking tenderly. Merii moaned and gently put a hand behind their heads, smiling down at them. They were sucking on the little stubs of flesh, making them harder with every kiss and lick. Meanwhile, their arms were moving down to rub her stomach. All this did was make her feel more warm and her center ached with a need that she couldn't put a name on.

Luke kept kissing her breast, but Jayden soon started to kiss down Merii's body. The girl in question was just enjoying the new sensations, her eyes closed in pleasure. Luke tugged at Merii's shorts and quickly pulled them off, Jayden going and tossing off her panties. Her Lucario was massaging the other breast now with his paw while the other cupped her ass and rubbed it a bit. Merii sighed in happiness and started to relax. This was really, really nice.

And then Jayden bent down and pressed a kiss at the apex of her thighs. The sheer sensation of the kiss nearly made Merii yell out in joy.

"A-ah! J…Jayden…"

The Swampert said nothing but simply peeled the sticky lips jutting from Merii's legs apart and slid his tongue inside of her, making her groan his name.

Luke, at this point, was kissing his way down his mate's body, his tongue swirling patterns on her bare stomach. Everything was just driving Merii closer and closer to…_something_. She knew what it was, but had never really experienced it before. Whenever she was alone, she had always gotten to a certain point but found it too intense to continue.

What they were doing to her now…she had never experienced it before. Her lips opened up in a gasp and she bucked against Jayden's mouth. The way he was licking…_tasting_ her…it was amazing. She groaned loudly when Luke bent down and Jayden made room for his best friend to join in. Soon Merii was thrusting against their mouths, unable to get enough of them. They were sticking their tongues inside her and using their fins and paws to rub at that sensitive nub near the top of her nether lips and it felt so _good_.

Somewhere inside of her, a sensation was approaching her. Merii knew what it was, had even gotten close sometimes, but she was sure that she had never reached it. The way she felt now…it was better than _anything_ she had ever done when she was alone. Then finally Luke sucked on the little hardened nub as Jayden thrust a fin in and Merii _screamed_.

Her body shook as the most indescribable pleasure went through her body and washed over her like a tidal wave. It was like she had touched the ground of Heaven just now. She felt, from far away it seemed, a wetness leaving that tunnel in between her legs but really she didn't care. All she wanted to do was keep having that wonderful feeling going through her. But this was not to be, as Merii slowly came back to reality. She could feel more with each second Jayden and Luke licking the wetness away from her core. Each touch from their warm tongues made her get close again.

Unfortunately, they stopped. But then they looked up at her and smiled brightly, their lips still stained with the remnants of Merii's juices. The girl said nothing, but moved so that she could hug them tightly.

"I…I want to make you guys feel that too."

Luke chuckled.  
"_Now_ you can touch us Lady Merii."

"Yeah…have fun. Hahaha…"  
At this, both males lay down onto the bed, both looking at their mate with the utmost love in their eyes, though they were darkened by their arousal.

Merii blushed more as she looked down on Jayden and Luke's large cocks. Luke's…it was red and smooth, sticking out from a furry blue sheathe of skin. There was a large knot of flesh at the base, and the shaft had veins sticking out from the blood flow concentrated there. The tip was oozing a clear fluid, and curiously Merii wiped some off with a finger and put it in between her lips to taste it. She noticed that Luke's member twitched when he saw this, and she herself groaned at the sweet yet bitter taste.

Meanwhile, Jayden's blue member was long and thick, the darker tip dripping a thick yet clear liquid. However, Merii knew that she would need to put all her energy into each of her mates individually, and looking at Jayden's sheer _size_…she'd start with Luke first to warm up. She glanced at Jayden, who just smiled at her and said to go ahead and that he could wait. Nodding, Merii bent down to take Luke's cock into her mouth, licking the slit on top before starting to suck. Immediately the Lucario began to buck against his mate's mouth. Clearly holding it in was much harder for males than it was for girls.

He put a paw against the back of her head and started to thrust into her mouth, making her grow wetter with every thrust. She started to play with the knot at the base when she saw it growing larger and Luke positively shook with pleasure due to this. Seeing-or rather, feeling-that Luke enjoyed that, Merii began to massage the knot using her hands and she tasted more of that clear liquid that she already was loving more than any soda or juice she had ever had.

"M-Merii…more…_please_…"

Merii just began to pump her mouth faster, wanting Luke to feel the same thing that she had only minutes earlier. Soon Luke's shallow gasps filled the room and drove even more warmth in between Merii's legs again. She felt a movement on the bed and felt Jayden's fins behind her, spreading her legs apart as one fin started to rub at Merii's sex again. She groaned around Luke's member and massaged the knot even more, wanting him to finish before she did.

She half got her wish. At the same time that Luke groaned a garbled version of Merii's name and flooded her mouth with his seed, Jayden brought Merii to the edge and caused her to gush her fluids all over his fins. Not wanting to choke, Merii began to swallow Luke's arousal and felt like she could finish just from the taste of it. Then she felt herself being kissed passionately by her Lucario for a moment, their tongues dancing together again before Luke murmured an "I love you" against her slightly parted lips before giving their mate over to Jayden to be pleasured.

Merii took a few deep breaths to get her bearings, and after a minute or so of calming down, she looked down at Jayden's large member. It was…big. Luke's was a decent size, but with Jayden being a Swampert, well…she blushed, and tried to wrap her hand around it. Her middle finger barely reached her thumb. Shuddering at the thought of it inside of her, she bent down and started to kiss the tip, which was much thinner than the rest of the cock. Licking at the fluid leaking from it, she thought that it had more of a sour taste, probably due to all the Aspear berries that Jayden loved.

Not to say that she didn't enjoy Jayden's taste either. It was just as good as Luke's, but different. Each of their flavors suited them. Jayden, being outgoing and rather bold deserved the slightly sour tinge to his seed, while Luke being serious and yet a bit sensitive had a mix. But really she was just enjoying how much Jayden was moaning. He was thrusting against her open mouth, her jaw starting to feel an ache from how fast the Swampert was thrusting.

Merii kept going, reaching down and gently massaging the large sac at the base of Jayden's thighs with her hands, making the water-type groan happily. He was thrusting faster and faster into Merii's mouth, and the way his dick was twitching in her mouth only showed that he was close to the peak that she and Luke had already experienced. Finally, he yelled out and a thick, copious amount of seed flowed into Merii's mouth. Jayden had more of a load than Luke did, and thus not all of it got into Merii and instead dribbled out from the sides of her mouth and onto her chest.

Jayden was panting on the bed and lay back, smiling weakly at Merii. She looked over at Luke, who was doing the same. However, Merii still felt the ache between her legs return from pleasuring Jayden. She looked at her mates, and then slid a hand down her legs and pressed it against her nether lips and groaned. She noticed almost immediately that her mates were already watching.

Blushing, Merii smiled at them and grabbed a fin and a paw from Jayden and Luke, respectively. Putting them in between her legs, she rubbed them a bit before gripping their members again. Jayden and Luke both began to rub again, groaning as their arousal began to grow again. Merii felt like she could go on with her mates like this forever. The three continued on like this for several hours, receiving and giving love until finally they fell asleep.

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Merii was lying in her bed with Jayden and Luke, happy due to the events that had just passed. They had made a beautiful memory together in this house. One that would last forever, and no matter what happened next, she would always cherish it. Both of her mates were sleeping on either side of her, but she knew they were going to wake up soon.

The Trainer looked down, and blushed at the state of her undress. Even though she and her mates had continued for quite a while, she still for some reason felt flustered when she thought of it. But a good type of flustered.

For a while, Merii just lay there between her mates, enjoying the moment. She felt so _content_. The sunrise was just starting to show through the blinds of her windows, and everything looked new and fresh and beautiful. Even the dust particles that Merii could see due to the rays of light looked like pieces of stars. And then the phone rang.

Sighing, Merii thought for a bit about whether she should get it or not. Then deciding that not many people called others at 6:30 in the morning, she got up.  
"This had better be important…"

Going into the kitchen, Merii picked up the phone.  
"Hello?"  
"Is this Merii Fuhennori?"

"Yes, it is. Who is this?"

"Merii, this is your father."

____________________________

End Note: …I swear that was the hottest lemon I've ever written. Okay, that's not much of an accomplishment since this is only my 3rd lemon-the other two I wrote a little more than a year ago, but still. And yeah, Lara found Merii's dad. Not directly, but she basically called social services (and basically twisted Merii's story a bit obviously), then they called some people, who called some people, who called Merii's dad. And no, Merii's dad is not going to come back into her life for long. As in just for the next chapter really. XD Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed the lemon. :3 And I know that I have to update Plushies of Legend. I WILL. Just as soon as I get a solid idea for a chapter…XD (runs off)


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